The Daily Hustle: 5/26/10
Get yer council preview right here!
By Wells Dunbar, 10:07AM, Wed. May 26, 2010

TDH has already hit on upcoming City Council items in a piecemeal fashion, but the big show is here tomorrow. Follow us below the fold for a rundown of all the big ticket numbers on council's Thursday agenda.
Meeting highlights for council's Thursday, May 27, 2010 session:
Item 4: From Austin Energy, allowing additional protections for "medically vulnerable utility customers" against "utility service disconnections during extreme hot weather.
Item 9: A $67 million contract to erect AE's System Control Center. It was punted from a previous meeting over objection of nebulous minority contracting participation.
Item 14: Winner in the unintentionally hilarious name division, a contract with Johnson Controls.
Item 30: Increasing a contract with an outside law firm for Water Treatment Plant No. 4 services to $370,000.
Item 33: Potential council approval of the Austin Regional Intelligence Center, a “fusion center” clearinghouse for Central Texas law enforcement agencies.
Items 47 & 48: Third and final readings to renew franchise agreements with Austin Cab and Yellow Cab for five years. Related is Bill Spelman's Item 55, directing the city manager to partner with the Urban Transpiration Commission’s cab working group to develop taxi “performance indicators,” possibly including on-time performance and customer satisfaction, examine capping fees charged to cab drivers by franchises, and develop a possibly performance-based “revised methodology” for awarding franchises in the future.
Item 53: Sheryl Cole’s previously postponed item asking the city manager for transportation funding options outside of a November bond election, “while preserving debt capacity” for an omnibus 2013 bond election.
Item 56: Delayed from a previous meeting, council’s annual discussion of compensation and benefits for the City Manager. Activists are preparing to use the discussion of his performance to highlight their dissatisfaction with Marc Ott’s handling of the KeyPoint investigation.
Items 65 & 66: 10:30am briefings – an "Update by Comprehensive Planning Advisory Task Force and Wallace, Roberts & Todd, LLC and staff on 'Imagine Austin' and the draft Vision Statement;" and "Affordability in Transit-Oriented Developments: Potential Catalyst Projects on City-Owned Land."
Items 69–89: Zoning, including the North Lamar Combined Neighborhood Plan (Item 86) and North Lamar rezonings (Item 88)
Item 96: Public hearing on city code pertaining to restarting lapsed building permits.
What the hell else is happening?
From the city calendar: A special called meeting of the City Council is scheduled, via an “East 11th and 12th Streets Town Hall Meeting” to discuss redevelopment of the corridor. It’s happening at the George Washington Carver Museum, 1165 Angelina, 6:30pm.
A quorum of the Capital Metro board is possible at the Sunset Advisory Commission's public hearing on the transit agency. The fun begins 9am at the State Capitol, Extension Building, Room E1.030, 1400 Congress.
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